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I'm too young for a midlife crisis

RacoonQueen

So, I've very reluctantly started a log over here. Most of you will know how durty this makes me feel - I didn't want to sully my run log by transferring it over here.

Forever the reluctant triathlete, I accidently signed up for Ironman Austria at the beginning of July...someone planted the seed by posting a remaining entry type countdown on Facebook...oh but guess who is not doing the f*cking thing themselves :mad: :P

For some reason, I set Austria 2015 as a goal race a few years ago, before I'd even done a triathlon. So when entries went live my trigger finger started feeling guilty. As a runner who swims and jumps on the bike once every 4 months or so, this is obviously going to be a big change in training and mindset for me.

This isn't a ticking the box exercise, this is a 100%, all in, goal race. So much so, I even went out on the bike today. In November. And it wasn't just a spin down to the local Tesco!!! (now you know BTH)

As far as the bike is concerned, this is obviously going to be my biggest hurdle - I love cycling but it's so time consuming and getting the bike ready for a spin is a real pain in the ass. Then I have to clean the bloody thing when I get back.
One person who just did an IM this year said to me that I was going to love it, and their reason why? because I love to run...so even when it feels sh*tty at the end, I'm doing what I love to do. Goes along with my claims that this is really just a marathon with a really long warm up.

I have an idea of what I want from this (but I'm an IM novice and really have no clue what I'm doing) and a loose idea of how I will be structuring my training week. Undecided on coaching etc
I am not exactly where I would like to be, but, I am where I am. Would have like my running to be closer to being where I was at my best, or better, but I'm not quite there yet, but that's OK.

Having entered this in July, I was until the last couple of weeks, still unsure whether or not this would be possible or not. Have had some health issues over the last few years but thankfully, I have come through it all. I will still be overcautious when feeling extra tired or run down. I'm a very, very lucky girl to be doing any of this, let alone aiming for an Ironman. So that's something to get me through those long, cold, miserable long bike rides.

Needless to say, this is absolutely, 100% not a midlife crisis.

btw Izoard, what's your IM pb? Just want to know what my ''ah sure that'll do'' goal will be.

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Kurt.Godel

Best of luck RQ. Its been strange reading your log this year, what with you actually getting so much training and races done! Hope all goes to plan for the big one

EC1000

Best of luck!

Shell to Run

Best of luck at the weekend!

Neady83

Hope you have a great race this weekend RQ

Abhainn

Wising you the very best Medbh.

shotgunmcos

Best of Luck Gal!

zico10

Wishing you luck before it's too late.

RacoonQueen

Thanks all.

Bike racked now and lunch munched. Just waiting for it to cool down a bit now before a quick trip to the supermarket for some gatorade for the bike and get some dinner in then back to the leaba.
Benefit of travelling the day or so earlier than last time is less rushing about and getting good, full nights sleep so nice and rested here.
Bit warm and the race briefing warning us of the 185k bike wasn't exciting...nice long (we clocked it at 1.2k from swim exit to mount line) so bike time will be a bit slower than I'd been hoping for and transitions will be slow but no big deal.

Drove the bike course yesterday and it really is pancake flat other than 2k of each lap. Which has two roughly 500m steep climbs and two 500m ish gentler climbs.

No going back now!

Weather app is telling me we'll have clouds tomorrow so fingers crossed they'll be covering the hot afternoon sun by the time we're off the bikes!

RacoonQueen

DNF for me out here today. After a perfect swim...all fell apart a third of the way into the bike. Battled to halfway in the hope that once on lap two I could fight through it, but my third stop off at 135kish I was barely able to get back on the bike. Now very sore, very sad and just want to go home and curl up in my own bed to wallow in my misery.

No idea where that injury came from, sole of foot/ankle - ended up unable to stay clipped in and trying to pedal with foot just on top of pedal (leaving me with no power and speed slipping). Thought maybe it was my cleats, my pedals...but nothing has changed there. Never an issue on a long spin. Never an issue in races. Walking not entirely comfortable, now that the drugs they gave me in the medical tent have worn off. Had I made it to the run it would have been a long oul run for me.

No words can sum up how devastated I am right now. Everything had gone next to perfect in training and build up races. Not to be for me today. I'll move on, hope what ever this is heals up fast so i can get back out running in the next week or so and rebuild. Not going to let all the work I put into this go to waste.

Sub 70 swim though! Fu*king delighted with that. Had targeted getting out of lap one of swim in 40-42 minutes (2.2k). To stand up in the water on 38 mins and cross the mat on 39 was fu*cking awesome. Back in the water (not easy with short legs) but down to swim before anyone else (benefits of short arms) and sub 70 was on - all I had to do was retain focus. Stood up to get out of the water in 68 minutes. SIXTY EIGHT MINUTES. Bit of a trek in shallow water to get out to mat so has me just under 70. Thought that was going to be a sign of great things to come for the day for me. Alas, not to be. I'll get over it, eventually. But going to wallow in self-pity now for a while...

Kurt.Godel

Ah thats a shame Medbh, a real pity as your build up has been so good. I wouldn't go wallowing just yet, as you say you have a great base and will race the benefit from it again.

68 mins for the swim- that is seriously impressive! You should be very proud of that anyway! Onwards and upwards.

Neady83

:eek::eek: noooooooo that's not how this was supposed to go. S**te M I'm really really sorry to hear that. You're perfectly entitled to wallow, do whatever you have to - I'm really gutted for you especially after such a good training block.

Hope it's nothing serious and you get to the bottom of it soon.

EC1000

Sorry to hear M, chin up. Onwards and upwards.

RacoonQueen

Thanks folks. Will take a while to get over this - spent the guts of the last 24 hours cycling between crying and thinking I should have just fought on. Then I stand up and try to walk again.

Lots of **** going round my head right now, can't help but blame yourself, think you shouldn't have given in, question why this happens on a race and not in the many training spins you've done...but I wasn't the only one on the van being ferried back injured. And the others walked away, they whacked me in a wheelchair (which I thought was a bit dramatic but it was a 1200/1500m walk to my bag from there so kinda glad of that now the foil blanket might have been overkill though). It happens. It sucks. You just forget this sh*t happens to people until it happens to you. Not had much luck with Ironman bike legs now!

Only positive from this is I don't have much to recover from now so can pretty much get straight back into training once it heals up.

Was hoping for some time out of the pool but might not be running or cycling for a while (even a week of no running will kill me)

Myself and Mike the bike made friends again when I picked him up and put him back in with shipmytri. Was pretty angry with him out there. :pac:

zico10

Sorry to hear about your race. I know it's absolutely no consolation, but sh!t happens. Just take on it the chin and don't let it get you down for too long.

On not letting the fitness you've built up go to waste; Ironman Taiwan, only next weekend, is still open for registration.

pgibbo

Sorry to hear that M. Hopefully it's nothing too serious with your foot. I also hope you get to the root cause of the issue.

Chin up, there are worse things......Safe home.

P.

RayCun

Damn, sorry to hear it

Abhainn

Real sorry to hear of your woe. Hopefully you can bounce back

RacoonQueen

I wasn't sure if I should put anything together or not, but this is probably more for me than a load of rubbish for you lot to read

A day or so after Italy, it occurred to me how much pain I was in swinging my leg over the bike to get off it when I was stopping. Then it clicked. That hip injury from July that had been niggling away at the back of my mind ever since. By Tuesday when I got home, I was able to walk normally and felt very little pain in the foot. Then I drove from the airport and started feeling a bit achy again. At home doing nothing on Wednesday, I was fine...but back in work on Thursday, whatever position I was sitting in in work I was starting to feel uncomfortable again. However, I went for a short run Thursday evening and it was fine. Could feel a little stiff in the hip and glutes but nothing major...same again Friday. Long drive on Saturday left my foot feeling sore again but nothing like what I was experiencing during the race. I managed another run, which again was a little achy and more achy than the ones on Thursday and Friday but nothing major.
So today, I was going to take out the bike. Really because I wanted to prove to myself that it hurt :pac: and that I had made the correct decision. So, onto the road bike for a wee 20k. At the start it felt fine. Could definitely feel a noticeable difference on my left compared to my right, a lot of stiffness on the left side but nothing majorly painful. Then I hit 15k and thought, oh yeah that definitely hurts

Bruise on my hip has spread a bit now and I've been a bit uncomfortable today, not the sort of intense pain I was in during the race but noticeably uncomfortable. No way I could have gone much further then 20k on the bike today without being in full on pain. I can only assume that I subconsciously changed my position on the bike last week if the hip was stiff and that put pressure on everything else.
Again, forces me to question why this doesn't happen in training. No point dwelling on that though, I can't change it now.

When I originally entered Ironman Austria last July, I was coming off missing out on Rotterdam marathon through injury and a tough time personally between my coach passing away and both my folks being very ill. I hadn't been training much (or so I thought at the time, but looking back now I was doing 7 - 10 hours a week!). Mum was a month over surgery at this stage and I needed a pick me up and figured I'd definitely deserve it by then.
My bro got sick then in September and college started back in October, I greatly underestimated how much work college would be and while I was getting the swimming and running in, most of my college work was happening on Sunday's as I spent Saturdays doing stuff for my folks. That meant I had no time for long bikes. I went out on a 120km bike in early January with a gang from the club and it was fine, I enjoyed it but by mid Feb I hadn't been back out on a long bike and I knew the game was up for Austria. The whole point of returning to Austria was to redeem my bike time from 2015 and that just wasn't going to happen off one/two short turbo sessions a week. So I spent some time mulling it over during March, I knew transferring to another race was an option so I thought about transferring to a half (with a 45 euro transfer fee, 600 euro total entry would make a very expensive half). Dublin 70.3 just doesn't appeal to me and the cost of travelling and accommodation for a 70.3 is the same as it would be for a full...I had until May 2nd to transfer and went for a long spin with a gang from Pulse on April 30th, including one who was going to Italy. At this stage I was mulling over Italy or Wales (not appealing) and this was the decision maker. Do I transfer to Italy or Dublin 70.3? Do I want to spend the next 4.5 months doing epic long spins? I can and I do.
So Italy it was.

I'd taken two weeks off work for Easter, so at this stage I had 4 solid weeks behind me and college was pretty much done for the summer so time was freed up. Now it was time to make a plan. I'd been running and swimming regularly anyway, so sure, why not give this a proper shot.

The rest we know, as it's been logged here.
I was mostly happy with training. Didn't miss much, had a few days off here and there sick but I pretty much did every session I had planned, some juggling here and there but nothing too major. I was very lucky. My health has been much improved over the last year or so and that played a big hand in how much better I've been able to handle training during this training block. That and after what an awful, stressful and sad year 2016 was, the release I got from higher training load was unbelievable.

Coming up to the race

Most of my swimming was done alone and at 6am...so was very unsure about where I was. My goal was to go under 70. That was a dream swim for me. While I could hold 1:45 - 1:47 ish quite easily on Monday night swims chasing the boys up the pool in club swims, we hadn't swam since late June and it was next to impossible for me to hit those times in the mornings. But I stuck at it. Kept going to the pool. Kept doing my sessions and kept swimming. Slowly.
There were many mornings when I woke up to go to the pool and just couldn't face getting in to swim slowly again...sometimes that meant going at lunch time instead and doing my session the next day, but I kept consistent. Kept getting in as much as I could.

I love OW swimming but getting to the group OW swims on Wednesdays just didn't always suit me and I didn't really feel like being depressed by not being able to keep up with the guys. But I made it out early one Wednesday and got into the water with the guys who I would consider to be faster than me, certainly faster than I thought I was now. Yet I was beating them to the buoys we regrouped at. This was the day it all clicked for me, the moment I knew it was working and I was on the right track. Two of them had already done Ironman this year and were both around 72 minutes so that showed at the very least I had improved. This is the swim I kept looking back to when I didn't want to get out of bed, although my pool swims were slow, it was working. It was working because I was being consistent. Then I did the half IM and got out of the water in low 36 mins...again, delighted. I am on track.

Bike...ah my nemesis. I'd been doing turbo sessions pretty much every Wednesday since September, but when I moved apartments in May I never set the turbo back up. Instead I hit the roads for either short intervals or hills midweek. I got out most Saturdays (until recently) and did something hilly and Sunday was the long one. My long run was moved to Friday to free up Saturday morning for the bike. What shocked me most was, I wasn't hating it. I was really enjoying getting out on the bike. What was my long bike for Austria, I was getting done in 4.5 hours and it felt short. 120km was what I was maxing out at in 2015 and now sure that's just an easy spin. A fair few 140 -165km spins done, I was in far better shape for the bike. I had one hard spin back in July where my hip had been killing me from about 40k in and I turned at Baltinglass and came home (120km). Straight into the rehab and stuck with that for a couple of weeks...little did I know at the end of September, not making that strength work part of my training week would live to be my biggest regret....

All in all, my bike was OK. I still wasn't overly happy with it and as I drew closer to the race I felt like I was losing speed and power. I wasn't happy with my bike in Caroline Kearney but hadn't thought much of it. The loss of power etc towards the end of training I thought was just because I was tired...but now thinking that perhaps it was just an underlying injury.

Run training

My favourite bit. I still train like a runner, running most days and watching strava I was doing more running than other people who were training for marathons. But running felt great, I was strong, enjoying it and getting faster. At times, thinking I should bin this Ironman malarky and go back to running. My run was in great shape and after running well in CK I was confident I could run well off the bike (providing my stomach held up). I generally ran between 45 miles and low 50s a week. My biggest training week had me hitting 60 miles, in amongst all the rest.

The taper
I had planned a 1.5 week / 2 week taper, but things happened and I ended up with more of a three week taper. But I wasn't too worried. All it meant was I'd be a bit more rested. Only thing that really bothered me was missing the last long(ish) bike. Not continuing with the strength work for the hip had been niggling way at the back of my mind. I hadn't had any further issues since July though so didn't think it was a big deal. Now I wonder, if I'd had that last long spin, would it have reappeared and got me back rehabbing before race day? would the end results then have been different? With the extended stomach bug I'd missed a couple of swims too, at this stage I wasn't convinced I could break 70 but knew I could get myself under 75.

Flights towards Cervia from Ireland were only Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and with the race being on Saturday I thought Thursday would leave me tight for time and feeling wrecked by race day. So I opted to travel Tuesday. Plan being, travel Tuesday and just settle into apartment, fill it with food and get some grub. Register Wednesday get out for a swim / run. Pick up bike Thursday and get out on it etc...then racking the bike, going to briefing etc was going to take up a fair bit of time on Friday anyway. The rest of the time was just for chilling out.
I was a little bored hanging round for a few days before the race but I was sleeping well in the apartment and was glad I'd had the extra time to settle into the new bed etc to leave me rested for race day. Now the old man travelled with me, and true to form like my mum before Austria, he too, snores like a steam train. So he kept me awake the night before the race. Next time they be getting their own accommodation...

Wednesday - went for a short run + registered for the race
Thursday - another short run and met up with the guys for a swim + picked up bike from ship my tri, drive bike course
Friday - did the breakfast run thing and went for a short spin to check all was good with the bike

Good dinner on Friday night, first food I enjoyed over there and in to bed early.

Race morning
Up early and a small breakfast before sticking the tunes in my ears and going for a short walk up and down the road outside the apartment. Then around to transition for about 6:15. It had been fairly hot while checking the bikes in on Friday, so naturally, we all took a little air out of our tyres. Imagine our delight, when the track pumps in transition weren't working. Flimsy and cheap they were mostly all broken by the time I got there. With the assistance of one of the marshalls I got the front tyre pumped up as he literally held down the pump to stop air escaping but he f*cked off before I could pump up the rear tyre. I found a friendly english chap with his own track pump who let me use his before he legged it as soon as I finished with it as a queue was now forming :pac:

Transition zone is long, we clocked it as 1200m from swim exit to the bike mount line, and my bike was right up the top by the run bags. That meant running the length of transition with my bike. I've never done leaving my shoes on the pedals and they advised us in the briefing not to do it if we aren't used to getting into the shoes on the bike...this meant running the guts of a km in cleats....I always get out of the shoes before getting off the bike so would have been fine after but wasn't enthused about running that distance in cleats.

Anyway, everything double checked in transition and out to the beach, into the wetsuit and a quick swim. Out of the water and over towards the pens. Do I get into the back of 60 - 1:10 or the front of 1:10 to 1:20? I opted to get into the back of the 60 - 1:10. As there was already a huge number in the other one and I didn't think I'd make it to the front, I also knew people wouldn't seed themselves correctly so I could see myself stuck behind people from the 'faster' pen.
I was in the pen early, so hung around towards the back of it to allow the faster swimmers in ahead of me. As we started to move forward to get into the water, I still felt I was too far forward so I hung back a little and let more people pass me.
Then I couldn't put it off any longer...I was at the front, second in the queue. He went, I moved forward, whistle blew, marshall lowered her arm as whistle blew and I'm off. Running past people from the 5 in front of me (what are people doing walking into the water?)
The swim we'd done on the Thursday taught me that the water was shallow and I knew we had to wade a good bit before being able to get dow to swim. Now, with short legs, this is hard. But short legs, means short arms, so it means I can get down to swim before others. So it probably balances out. The test swim on Thursday also taught me that the white jelly fish in the Adriatic are NOT as happy for you to pet them as the white jellies back home

Got a couple of stings on Thursday and got one about 2 mins in to the swim on race day.

Anyway, down to swim and we passed through two 'gates' and then we were to keep the buoys on our right. Through the two gates and off we go. Loads of people were swimming to the right of the buoys and very few of us were in on the left. The swim in Italy has an Australian exit, with the first portion of the swim 2.2k. So I loosely worked out in my head that I'd need to be out of the water in around 40 mins to get under 70 mins. I was passing people all over the place and was fairly shocked at how many people vastly overestimate their swim ability, I knew I would be borderline for 70 mins and didn't feel like I was working hard so didn't even think I'd be making it at this point which made me wonder what sort of time these folks would be swimming!
Around to the last turn and good sighting and heading back for shore. Swam as far in as I could, until I hands were touching the sand and up. Quick glance at the watch. Low 38. What the holy bejaysus!!!! :eek::eek:
Fu*king hell. I might actually do this. :eek::eek: 39:35 by the time I hit the mat.

Tried to run out of the water. Failed. :pac: So just walked it, got to shore and ran. Back into the water and down to swim while everyone else still strolling around. Only 1600 metres to go, I have 30 minutes to do that. And go. Confidence soaring and sighting easy. All I have to do is swim and look up occasionally. Before I know it, I can hear all the noise from the beach, Ironman arch is in sight and I'm headed for home.
Swim all the way in, stand up. Look at the watch. 68:1x. Ah here. I knew I'd make it over the mat within a minute or so and my official time would still have me under 70. Awesome. This is going to be some day. :cool:

Made extra sure that my chip registered on the mat and up the beach. Past the pulse supporters, out onto the road and see my old man standing there. Gave him a shout and a "fu*king sub 70 swim" (he had no idea what that meant) and into transition. My bags were in a great position and grabbed it with ease. Into change tent. Wetsuit off. Bike jersey on. Bike shoes on. Food in. Suncream on. Out.

The advantage of my bike being so close to the bags was it was really easy to find as it was only about 8 bikes up, rather than being in the middle of somewhere. Helmet on, race number on. Bike out and run.
Transition is three parallel rows of bikes and as above, people were having difficulty finding their bikes so lots of people walking and looking around aimlessly as I tried to pass, but out of transition in under 9 mins and on the bike.

We had driven the bike course to check out the hill on Thursday so was well prepared for what was to come. Got the fuel in before the hill, geared up and sat up from the bars and took it handy on the way up. The hill was about 2k...and it was warm, really, really warm. Then turn around and back down. The relief of the downhill and the wind in your face was welcome. Then trouble came....

About 60/70k in I started to feel increasingly uncomfortable. I just kept telling myself to get to half way and on to lap 2 and you'll be fine. The bike course in Italy is 185km...so even getting to the 90km marker I still had another couple of km to go before I get that boost. Back towards town and through the crowds..Irish flags....our travelling support. Nice boosts and onwards and upwards. Lap 2 now. I can get through this. All I need is to get over that hill now and I'll be fine...the pain was getting worse and I was struggling to stay down in the bars. My head was not filled with doubts and I was frustrated and angry. I stopped my bike and got off and stretched out. Fought off the will to cry. I'd unclipped and left my left foot just sitting on the pedal a couple of times, this left me with no pain. But, no power. There are a couple of overpasses along the way and I got to the one at about 125km. Flew down the hill on one side hoping to god the momentum would get me up the other side. It did, just about. As soon as I got to the flat again. The pain. Clipping in was painful, being clipped in was agony, clipping out was painful. I think this was around the stage I realised the game was up. I wasn't going to get up that hill. I was clipped out, sitting up and largely free wheeling. Every time i passed a marshall I mulled it over. I got past an aid station and penalty tent and kept going. DO NOT STOP MEDBH. Then I got to an area where there were a few supporters. I hopped up on the path, stopped and unclipped. It was all over. Two lovely Italian grannies started shouting Italian words at me and I recognised 'crampa' and the offer to massage and I shook my head. She came over and asked again and I said no. To which she went into her laundrette and got me a chair. I'd say my face told her everything she needed to know. I took off my shoe, couldn't put my foot to the ground and sat down and cried. While the two Italian grannies kept trying to talk to me. In Italian. I didn't have a notion what they were saying. One of them put her arms around me and kept saying ''it OK, it OK". No it bloody wasn't!

Three men on motorbikes turned up after a while to check on me and an ambulance after. No need for the ambulance though so they went on their way and the 'van of shame'

came along later. I've no idea on timings. One of them took my bike the other walked me to the van. Then I realised there was no way I could get into it. That manoeuvre wasn't easy. There was someone else already in it and they brought us and one other back to transition. The other two got out and walked off with their bikes. They sat me down to wait for a wheelchair. I thought they were being a bit dramatic as all I wanted was to get my clothes and a shower and go home. Now I realise, there is no way I could have done all that on my own. They stuck me in a wheelchair and wheeled me up to the medical tent, bringing my bike beside me and reassuring me that my bike was safe. I didn't really feel the need for the medical tent I just wanted to get to my bag, but they gave me a pain killing injection and i lay on the bed crying for a while before sitting up and asking could I leave. I was mostly concerned with how concerned those who were tracking me would be and just wanted to get to my phone to ring dad and the supporters and let them know I was ok.
They gave me food and I rang dad and mum and the supporters and hobbled out then to meet the old man.

Thus, my journey was over. Far worse things can happen in life was all that I could tell myself to try stop the tears from flowing but it didn't feel like it at the time...and still doesn't. I mostly feel ok about it now but I'm feeling fairly uncomfortable this evening (don't think the spin this morning was a great idea :pac: ) and typing this out has just made me feel sad again.

I'm still devastated but I know I gave it my best shot to stay on the course and given the pain I'm in now from a 20k spin. I know for sure I couldn't have gone on. I knew that at the time too, but it's easy to forget that afterwards as the physical pain goes away and you start beating yourself up for it all and questioning if you gave in too easily.

I wasn't really planning on doing IM again next year, was waiting till after Italy to decide. Was kinda planning on trying to bring down the half time...but now I have unfinished business with Ironman and I'm carrying an incredible amount of fitness...and motivation...and a broken heart that needs healing...

Steroo

Sorry to read it didn't go to plan. You'll get that unfinished business sorted. So many things can go wrong on the day and all the hard work seems in vain. But it's about the journey and the lifestyle it brings, the buzz after good sessions and the club community that you get involved in along the way.

Chin up and make a new plan and get busy., when you're ready that is.

Good wishes

Shell to Run

Hey RQ. Sound move writing up race report and I hope it was helped shake off some of the disappointment.
IM is a huge commitment pre and post the event and unfortunately in your case it was not meant to be. Really sorry to hear about your bad luck thou.
On the bright side you are in top shape and will knock out some great performances before the end of the year.

Kurt.Godel

Not the result your training deserved Medbh. By the sound of things you have a lot going on in your life right now, and although we define ourselves through goals, it's often the training for those goals that helps us deal with other stuff life throws at us. I've no doubt you'll be back for more, different, results next time.

Well done on a sub 70 swim though, that's serious improvement!

RacoonQueen

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

Well done on a sub 70 swim though, that's serious improvement!

I think we were lucky and it was a 'fast' swim - definitely 3.8 + based on strava but everyone seemed to be happy with what they swam.
Dunno about the hordes of people I passed in the water though...crazy how much people overestimate their ability. I felt bad going in to the back of the 70 min wave thinking I'd be happy to come in about 72...

Time to move on now, I allowed myself one week of wallowing and have actually been able to talk about it now. Still can't read back over that report without welling up though

Hip is still sore but have gone for short runs most days only really get pain in the hip while running with the pounding of downhills and foot a bit achy. Had been planning to launch into training for Waterford half marathon after taking two weeks off post race so will start to see how that goes next week. Currently feel like I've put on about 3 stone due to lack of activity....though pretty amazing how easily you can switch from obsessed with training twice a day to being unable to rip yourself off the couch/out of bed. Back with the head in the books now so need to get the straight out the door from work training regime back up.

Keeks

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Hip is still sore but have gone for short runs most days only really get pain in the hip while running with the pounding of downhills and foot a bit achy.

Did you find out what the injury is or what caused it?
It might be best to get this sorted first before launching into another training regime.....

its bad enough to be disappointed once but a second time....been there done that

RacoonQueen

Keeks wrote: »

Did you find out what the injury is or what caused it?
It might be best to get this sorted first before launching into another training regime.....

its bad enough to be disappointed once but a second time....been there done that

It's just imbalance/weakness. No major damage in the sense I haven't torn anything or totally broken anything but I likely prevented anything major by getting off the bike.
This routine was my saviour when I first got hit with the hip problem back in July - doing this after Italy brought serious relief.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/loosen-up-tight-hips-with-3-types-of-poses-monthly-yoga-with-abi-2017.html
I'm still not doing it enough now post Italy

If i have a specific area of weakness - working on it and maintaining it needs to become part of my weekly training. If it means dropping an hour of something else to fit it in even once a week then it needs to be done. But S&C and the above routine really doesn't take that long. 15 minutes when you get in from a run or in off the bike a few times a week and you're done. It doesn't need hours dedicated to it, it just needs the same consistency as I show to swim/bike/run

I could probably do with looking at a bike fit again, I explored getting a new saddle back in July but didn't follow through on it as sure the saddle was fine for Austria (but I cramped up badly, early in Austria, so perhaps it wasn't). I'm not happy with my saddle and never really was.

Both IM's I've had problems early on the bike that don't show up during long spins. So I need to explore that if I'm going to do IM again. I have thought of how I never get on the bike after a long swim though so that is something I perhaps need to put into my training, certainly something I plan to try out to see if I get the random cramps/injury that I don't get during other long spins.
Then again, perhaps I'm just unlucky.

RacoonQueen

Have just seen on twitter and instagram that Emmet Kelly came off his bike while out training in Kona and now out of Kona, so y'know makes my misadventure seem smaller.

https://www.instagram.com/emmetkel/

pgibbo

Saw that alright. Poor guy. Those cross winds must be lethal.

RacoonQueen

Ticking over now with a bit of training and enjoying running. Back in the pool for 3 or 4 short sessions a week and trying to kick run sessions off.
Good week last week, until I got out on the bike on Sunday. Missed the previous weekend on the bike but had been feeling ok so pushed the distance up to 60k on Sunday having maxed out at 40k the other weekends.
By the time I got to 50k could start feeling pain in the hip area but with just 10k to go to get home, no big issue.
Started to feel a teeny bit of pain in the foot again sunday evening and yesterday and hip a bit achy now today (13 miles of running yesterday may not have helped). But feels fine when running it was the bike that brought on pain really.
Haven't done enough (haven't done much at all really) to rehab, stretch and strengthen so not sure what else I expect to be honest.
Went for treatment last Wednesday with the boarsdie formerly known as ecoli and he reckons adductors are an issue. Lots to do to overcome this still I think.

Abhainn

RacoonQueen wrote: »

By the time I got to 50k could start feeling pain in the hip area but with just 10k to go to get home, no big issue.
Started to feel a teeny bit of pain in the foot again sunday evening and yesterday and hip a bit achy now today (13 miles of running yesterday may not have helped). But feels fine when running it was the bike that brought on pain really.
Haven't done enough (haven't done much at all really) to rehab, stretch and strengthen so not sure what else I expect to be honest.
Went for treatment last Wednesday with the boarsdie formerly known as ecoli and he reckons adductors are an issue. Lots to do to overcome this still I think.

Get a MRI done, that's the first route Id take to getting is diagnosed.
At least then a way to fix can be decided.
I got injured Feb 2016, hardly ran for 5 weeks, somehow raced London in April to a reasonable time. Was farting around rehabbing etc. Finally MRI in Sept confirmed moderate severity gilmores groin injury (hole in sheath around adductors).
It was Mar 17 before I got surgery sorted but that's another story

RacoonQueen

Most of you follow me on Strava so know I've been training away. I've done a good bit of rehab and my hip is significantly better. I've now got up to 85k on the bike, pain free. However, I've realised that I'm getting old since I've started to pick up injuries and can no longer ignore the lures of stretching and proper strength work, so have signed up with a friend who is a personal trainer and a triathlete and have tasked him with getting me strong etc. He was able to spot things in my initial assessment that I already knew was wrong and picked up on things that I hadn't realised where wrong until he said it and I thought ''oh that makes sense''

Swim - had only really been doing pool at lunch up until December then started easing myself back into mornings. Now aiming for 3 x mornings swim, 2 x mornings PT and if possible those days into the pool just to stretch out following the weights etc
Bike - got myself a new smart turbo (seriously hard to justify as my 6 year old dumb turbo was still working perfectly) and got myself on zwift. I had been turboing but with no real focus or purpose. Have done 3 x zwift and it definitely makes the turbo significantly easier mentally. Getting out most weekends, bizarrely, really loving the bike. Last couple of weeks low mileage with just 35k as been short on time but hopefully weather will be on side this weekend to get it back up. Was 85k a couple of weeks ago out with Tango and another of the Phoenix boys. Swore I wouldn't let my bike fitness slip completely so happy enough to still have endurance and fitness there.
Run - will never not run. Still running most days, twice a day some days...just because, well the girl loves to run. Had a routine of proper running going but ran into busy time in work, life etc and that all slipped to mostly just running easy so feeling a little slow right now..not helped by the heavy gym legs as I get used to do a bit of lifting weights but short term slowdown on swim/bike/run for long term speed/strength/injury avoidance I can do.

Have no idea yet what I want to do with a 2018 season. Still enticed slightly by IM Copenhagen, which bizarrely has not sold out yet...it's like it's waiting for me

Or work on shorter distance standard/middle distance. New middle in Donegal looks, interesting...and going back to Tyrone for another shot is on my mind too but for now I'm just enjoying still being out there.

Training is broaching being back to what I was doing during the summer...so if I decide to go for middle/long distance I will at least have a good base to work off.

This evening bringing my empty basin that was blowing around the balcony in...I tripped and walloped my knee off the balcony door...nice bit of inflammation there now and significant pain so...yay. :rolleyes:

Baby75

always the way isn't it, I hope that knee is ok by tomorrow